Apparatus fob handling hides



n in 'f FFICE.

i CHARLES` VESTON, OF SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HIDES.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES VnsroN, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for Handling Hides, and that the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, hereinafter referred to, forms a full and exact specification of the same, wherein I have set forth t-he nature and principles of my said improvements, whereby my invention may be dis-.

tinguished from all others of a similar class, together with such parts as I claim and desire to have secured to me by Letters Patent.

The figures of the accompanying plate of drawings represent my improvements.

Figure l is a front elevation of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a plan or top view of the saine and Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken in the plane of the line A, B.

My improvements consist in the apparatus used for keeping the hides in motion in the vats, which motion, as is well known to persons skilled in the art, is necessary `in order that every portion of the hide may be presented to the action of the tanning liquid. In securing this result a peculiar motion must be given to the hides in order not to harden or hammer them by the apparatus used for tanning them, and at the same time it is absolutely essential that the space about the top of the vats should be unobstructed by the driving machinery, to permit the operator to have free access to the vats.

My apparatus consists of a series of long arms, having proper feet for moving the hides turning upon bearings placed below the point at which the driving power is applied and being driven so as to receive a forward and backward motion by an arrangement of devices at the top of the said arms. By this means as the arms are thus hung and the machinery for driving them placed at the top of the apparatus there is nothing to obstruct the space about the vats so that the workman can have free access to the same for removing the hides when the process is completed and for inserting new ones.

Iam aware that a fulling-mill has been used for softening the hides preparatory to the processes of depilation and tanning which consists of a long arm hung at its top and driven by a crank and connecting rod at or near the bottom of the same, but this it will be seen could not serve the purposes of the present invention, as the vats could not be approached conveniently by the workmen for manipulating the hides.

a a a a in the drawings represent the vats in which the hides are to be placed, they being first filled with the tanning liquid and their tops even with the surface of the ground.

b, &c., is a framework for supporting the driving portion of the machinery, &c.

CZ, (Z, &c., are long vibrating arms having at their lower ends the feet e` e made hollow so as to allow the liquid to circulate through them. The arms Z (l are hung upon short shafts fV f placed below the centers of the arms and near the tops of the vats. A vibratory or forward and back motion is given to the arms cl CZ so as to keep the hides turning gently, as follows:-g g are the driving shafts having two cranks 71, which drive the long connecting rods z' z' supported at the ends opposite the crank by arms k 75 attached to two rocker shafts Z Z having their bearings in the top portion of the supporting framework Z) b. The connecting rods z' i have studs m mr which fit into corresponding notches formed in the short arms n n n n that are attached by hinge oints to the tops of the arms cl cl and communicate a forward and back motion to the same as will be readily understood without further explanation, the apparatus being thrown out of gear by simply lifting the arms n n clear of the studs m m.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that by thus hanging and driving the vibrating arms the required motion is obtained for constantly turning the hides without injuring them and in such a manner that the Workmen can have free access to the vats.

Having thus fully described my iniprovenients, I shall state my claim as fol- 5 lows:

That I claim as my invention and desire to have secured to nie by Letters Patent is,

The apparatus herein described for keeping hides in motion, While exposed to the action of the tanning liquid-the saine con- 10 sisting of parts constructed and arranged in relation to each other, as described, so as to operate substantially in the manner and for the purposes set forth.

CHARLES WESTON. Witnesses:

JOSEPH GAVETT, EZRA LINCOLN. 

